New Horizon Youth Centre is our UK Neighbour of Choice for 2022/2023
January 2023
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We are delighted to announce a second consecutive year of supporting New Horizon Youth Centre (NHYC) via our Neighbour of Choice grant funding. We are awarding $100,000 to help enable the exceptional work that the charity delivers throughout the year in our local community, tackling the pressing problem of youth homelessness in the capital.
The charity, based in the heart of London, helps young people experiencing homelessness in vital ways via their day centre, outreach and remote support. They also strive to create long term solutions through their rehousing projects. MSD’s support has focussed on the health and wellbeing provision in the drop-in Day Centre. Members from our Corporate Policy and Communications team volunteered at their King’s Cross Centre in summer 2022, allowing us to have an insight into the life changing work the charity carries out.
Analysis of our first year funding showed that our Neighbour of Choice grant allowed 499 young people to access the services offered in the Day Centre in King’s Cross. 159 young people were helped through the education, training, and employment service. In addition, in 110 cases, support was provided to improve mental health and wellbeing.
The Neighbour of Choice programme is a global initiative, helping MSD to serve local community needs where we are based. We are proud to be continuing with the success of this important programme and we are excited to be a part of the positive local impact NHYC will deliver this year.
MSD launches Fifty Over 50: Giving people growing older with HIV a voice
July 2022
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A unique listening project in partnership with several leading HIV organisations, with a mission to hear from people who are growing older with HIV.
Thanks to decades of clinical research, innovation and cross-sector collaboration, HIV has largely become a chronic condition in the UK. The UK has led the way in achieving the UNAIDS targets of 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, of those with a known HIV diagnosis 90% receiving treatment, and of those receiving treatment 90% having an undetectable viral load.
The progress which has been made through improvements in testing and treatment has been remarkable, and new diagnoses of HIV continue to decrease in the UK. However, as the number of people who are now growing older with HIV increases, this brings with it a host of new or additional challenges.
The Fifty Over 50 project, coordinated by MSD in collaboration with the Whole Person Care group of HIV community and professional organisations, is a unique listening exercise which set out to give people growing older with HIV a voice. Fifty Over 50 brings together first-hand accounts from a diverse range of people living with HIV aged 50+, and highlights how for many in the HIV community being well is about more than just viral suppression, it’s also about living well.
Ben Lucas, Managing Director for MSD in the UK and Ireland, commented:
“I am immensely proud that MSD have worked with all the individual contributors and organisations that form part of Fifty Over 50 – providing a platform for people to share their experiences and shine a light on the changes that are needed to support people living with HIV to live well across the entirety of their life.”
Learn more about Fifty Over 50 and hear what our contributors had to share in the e-book here.
GB-NON-06155 | Date of Preparation: July 2022 | Reapproval: May 2024
MSD signs lease on Discovery Centre and UK HQ in London
May 2022
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[Photo: Artist impression of future new Discovery Centre and Headquarters in London]
This will be a new, 25,000 square metre specialised office life sciences laboratory and office facility strategically located at the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter
MSD announced today that the Belgrove House site, carefully identified as the location of choice for a £1bn life sciences investment by the US biopharmaceutical company has been secured.
This long-term lease will allow MSD to develop a Discovery Centre and UK HQ with the aim of ensuring that innovation is at the heart of drug discovery, whilst its position in the Kings Cross area will provide proximity to leading UK academic and industry research, access to Europe, as well as offer unique collaboration opportunities.
MSD has worked collaboratively with developer, Precis Advisory Ltd., Camden Council and the local community to get to this stage. Once developed, the discovery research centre and HQ will be home to 800 MSD employees, ranging from discovery research, clinical and support roles, to marketing, finance, and administration.
Currently, MSD has a growing discovery research team located at the London BioScience Innovation Centre and the neighbouring Francis Crick Institute. The teams have established successful scientific collaborations with leading UK institutions including The Crick and Kings College London, as well as European biotechnology companies. In addition, MSD is a founding member of Our Future Health in the UK, and an active participant in several research consortia focused in the area of neurodegeneration, one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare.
The Belgrove House development will meet high environmental sustainability standards. MSD will also be delivering an ambitious educational outreach programme in collaboration with Camden STEAM and is steadfast in its commitment to giving back to the local community through investment, volunteering and by providing areas of the building for the public to access and use.
The developer plans to undertake the initial demolition phase this year, with construction expected to start by early 2023, finalising in late 2027.
In early 2021, MSD’s UK HQ moved from Hertfordshire to interim offices in Moorgate to be part of a thriving life-sciences ecosystem, with unrivalled access to talent and connectivity.
Speaking, following progress to exchange on the lease, Dr Fiona Marshall, Senior Vice President and Head of Discovery, Preclinical and Translational Medicine at MSD, commented:
“MSD is proud to be delivering on our UK investment plans, with a future that puts our scientists at the heart of a vibrant centre for innovation and technology development alongside leading research institutes which include some of our current research collaboration partners. Our mission to discover and develop therapeutics that address unmet medical needs for patients with diseases of ageing is underway in earnest, harnessing the passion and potential of world-leading scientific minds across industry and academia.”
Ben Lucas, Managing Director for MSD in the UK and Ireland, commented:
“We are delighted to have signed the lease on Belgrove House, moving us tangibly forwards in our mission to save and improve lives through investing in pioneering science. MSD is aligned to the UK’s Life Sciences Vision and committed to playing a leading role in the ecosystem here, with a focus on an innovation partnership with UK Government and the NHS that delivers for patients. Locally, we are focused on building a strong connection with the community and on contributing positively through our work to such a vibrant environment.”
Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business, commented:
“I am delighted that London will be the home of MSD’s new Discovery Research Centre and UK Headquarters, further boosting London’s position as a world-leading life sciences hub.”
[Photo: Artist impression of future new Discovery Centre and Headquarters in London]
